Ovo je priča žene iz Australije koja je živjela u Sarajevu za vrijeme njene trudnoće. Međutim, odlučila je vratiti se u Australiju kako bi se porodila u kući sa neovisnom babicom. Ona je imala mogućnost da doživi vrlo pozitivno i potpuno prirodno iskustvo zahvaljujući podršci svog supruga, njene babice, i korištenju hipnoterapije i vodene terapije.
Moj suprug i ja smo iz Australije, ali smo živjeli u Sarajevu radi volonterskog rada, kada smo odlučili imati naše prvo dijete. Moja trudnoća išla je vrlo glatko. Ja sam se trudila najviše što sam mogla da redovno vježbam, da dobro jedem i sve moje posjete dokotoru pokazale su da smo beba i ja zdravi.
Naš prvobitni plan bio je da se dijete rodi u Bosni, međutim, ja sam također bila vrlo zabrinuta za prirodni porod i nisam bila sigurna da li su bolnice to podržavale. Naime, moje težnje su bile ili kućni porod ili da idem u porođajni centar, ali ništa od toga nije bilo dostupno za mene u to vrijeme u Bosni. Također, jako sam se bojala poroda i mislila sam da će to biti vrlo stresno u nepoznatom sistemu, ne znate jezik i ne postoji niko ko bi vam mogao pomoći. Dakle, na kraju odlučili smo otići u Australiju prije poroda.
Angažovali smo privatnu babicu da mi pomogne kod kućnog poroda Bila je vrlo iskusna i stvarno je razumijela kako prirodni proces funkcionira. Ona se nije miješala u taj proces uopće, osim ukoliko dođe do komplikacije. Slijedila je ostatak moje trudnoće tako što bi dodirivala moj stomak kako bi provjerila bebin položaj i angažovanje, slušala je Doplerom bebino srce i mjerila mi krvni pritisak, i provjerala da se ja osjećam dobro. U Australiji, nije uobičajeno raditi više od dva ultrazvuka, osim ako ne postoji problem.
Bila sam spremna za rađanje učeći vježbe disanja, radeći vježbe fetalnih pozicioniranja i vježbajući hipnorađanje. Vjerujem da su mi te stvari jako pomogle da mi bude ugodno i opušteno tokom trudnoće i poroda. Također sam mnogo istraživala o rođenju, tako da sam znala šta mogu očekivati i koje izbore imam.
Dan prije termina mog porođaja, počela sam dobivati Braxton Hicksove kontrakcije (lažne kotrakcije), ali su do kraja dana prestale. Također sam primijetila malu količinu žute tekućine kako curi. Nisam bio sigurna je li to vaginalni sekret ili amnionske tekućine. Moja babica također nije bila sigurna, ali mi je rekla ako je plodna voda, standardna bolnička praksa bi bila izazvati porod, ako to nije početak, naravno, u roku od 24 sata. To je zato što kad voda jednom krene, postoji mali rizik od infekcije. Ona je, međutim, vjerovala da su, jer sam najvjerojatnije imala stražnje curenje, rizici vrlo mali, i rekla je da, ako sam ja sretna s tim, mogu sačekati još do početka poroda. To će samo biti dobra ideja da se vježba higijena i redovno prati moja temperatura, jer bi njen rast mogao ukazivati na infekciju.
Dakle, s nekim strahom, čekala sam početak poroda. Pokušala sam nekoliko stvari kako bi se počela porađati, prirodn, naravno, kao što su stimulacija bradavica. Ne znam je li to pomoglo, ali pet dana kasnije, počele su neredovite kontrakcije. To je bio petak navečer. Bile su vrlo blage, tako da sam mogla spavati. Nazvala sam svoju babicu i ona mi je rekla da se samo opustim. U subotu, kontrakcije su bile vrlo blage i nepravilna i dalje, ali do subote navečer, počele su se intenzivirati. Zapravo, bile su dosta jake, ali budući da su bile neredovne, moja babica nije došla. Ona mi je samo govorila da se odmaram što je više moguće. Ovo se nastavilo na isti način kroz noć do nedjelje navečer. Samo sam se odmarala u naprijed naslonjenom položaju, na koljenima, s glavom na kauču, gotovo sve vrijeme. Povremeno bih prošetala do kupatila ili bi blago poskakivala na mojoj porodiljskoj lopti. Držali smo sobu zatamnjenom i toplom, a lagana muzika je svirala, što je pomoglo. Također sam stavljala tople obloge donji dio leđa i nekoliko puta sam se istuširala. Bazen za porod je bio napuhan i spreman, ali mi je babica rekla da bi bilo najbolje pričekati kraj poroda za korištenje, tako ću osjetiti najveće olakšanje.
U nedjelju navečer došla je babica i provjerila bebine otkucaje srca. To je bilo sve. Nije napravila vaginalni pregled. Ona me samo posmatrala. Po mom ponašanju, mogla je reći da sam još uvijek u fazi ranog poroda. Bio sam malo razočarana. Teško je bilo prolaziti kroz senzacije, s već dvije gotovo besane noći. Pa, prilično dobro sam se snalazila do sada, ali bila sam zabrinuta kako će izgledati aktivni porod. Ona me uvjeravala da se prirodni lijekovi protiv bolova postepeno gomilaju u mom sistemu i da će mi izgradnja hormona rađanja pomoći da dođem do izmijenjenog stanja svijesti u kojem će bo biti upravljiva. I, mislim da je bila u pravu.
Rano ujutro, počela sam osjećati kao da su trudovi postali malo intenzivniji i da postoji puno veći pritisak na vrat moje maternice. Otišla sam u kupatilo. Dok sam bila u kadi, počela sam osjećati potrebu da se sagnem. Gotovo kao da je moje tijelo to samo činilo na kraju svake kontrakcije. Nazvala sam babicu. Bila sam zabrinuta da je prerano da počnem tiskati, jer sam mislila da sam još uvijek u ranoj fazi. Rekla je da ako sam se tako osjećala, onda je pravo vrijeme i da će odmah doći. Kad je stigla, uradila je vaginalni pregled (prvi koji sam imala) i osjetila da je bebina glava već bila u porođajnom kanalu.
Ona mi je pomogla izaći iz kade i prošetati do bazena za porod. Bilo je tako čudno hodati s glavom, tako nisko dolje.
Nakon što sam ušla u bazenu, bila sam jako sretna i opuštena. Vidjeli smo da je 6 sati, nedjelja ujutro. Moji trudovi postali su široko razmaknuti. Nisam osjetila potrebu puno tiskati, osim na kraju kontrakcije, pa tiskala samo onda kada sam to osjetila. I, pritom činilo se da trudovi postaju puno lakši za podnijeti. Moj muž je bio u bazenu sa mnom većinu vremena, a on mi je pomogao da se namjestim u različitim položajima. Ja sam čučala na početku, ali kada mi je postalo naporno, legla bih na stranu, a kasnije, sam bila rukama i koljenima. Moja babica je samo sjedila izvan bazena, i gledajući me uvjeravala da je sve bilo u redu. Jednom je, ja mislim, provjerila otkucaje bebinog srca i rekla da je u redu.
Nakon otprilike sat vremena, glava moje bebe se pojavila, ali onda se opet povukla na kraju kontrakcije. Ovo se dešavalo neko vrijeme i bila sam nestrpljiva, ali naša babica je rekla kako je to normalno, a da je to način na koje tijelo isteže kožu. Osjećla sam se malo neugodno, ali u redu. Nisam bila rastrgana u ovom trenutku što je moja ruka dodirivala područje kako bi osjetila njegovu glavu kako izlazili. Biloje jako čudno i slatko osjetiti kako mu je glava bila mekana i kako se njegova mekana kosa njiše u vodi. Nakon možda pola sata ovako, glava mu je izašla u potpunosti i nije se uvukla. Zatim, gurnula sam još jednom i tijelo se pojavilo. U ovom trenutku, bila sam naslonjen na ruke i koljena. Babica ga je uhvatila s leđa, pod vodom, te ga gurnula prema naprijed između nogu, tako da sam ga mogla podići.
Uzela sam ga u naručje i držala ga neko vrijeme. Bio je miran i nije disao na početku, ali babica me je uvjeravala da je sve u redu, jer je on još uvijek hrani putem posteljice. Puhala sam u njegovo lice, a on je na kraju ispustio kratak krik, što je bilo olakšanje. Od tog trena, bio je prilično smiren i zadovoljan. Onda sam ga pokušala prinijeti do grudi, ali on nije htio uzeti. Dok sam ga još uvijek držala i sjedila u bazenu, nazvala sam roditelje i mi smo razgovarali. Nakon nekog vremena, postalo mi je malo neugodno, jer voda nije bila dovoljno topla, a također sam osjećala malo neugode dolje. Bila zabrinuta i da će bebi postati hladno. Nakon što je vrpca prestala pulsirati, babica je stegnula, a moj muž je prerezao. Ja sam onda predala dijete svom suprugu, tako da ga je mogao držati dok sam istisnula posteljicu. Ideja je bila čekati trudove da dođu, naravno od stimulacije bradavice dojenja, ali budući da to nije funkcionisalo, pokušala sam samo gurnuti jako i da izađe. Velike kugle krvi takođe su izašle, što se činilo kao da je pukla posteljica, ali na sreću nije. Bazen je kompletan pocrvenio, kao da se desio napad morskog psa (ja sam čula da je to normalno)! Nakon toga, bila sam jako nestrpljiva da izađem. Moja babica mi je pomogla da se popnem. Osjećala sam se jako čudno jer je moj stomak više nije bio poput želea, izgledalo je je kao da uopće nemam nikakve trbušne mišiće!
Ona me je dovela do kreveta , legla sam i pokušala ponovo dojiti. Nije mi išlo, pa je babica intervenisala kako bi pomogla stvarima da krenu. On je konačno prihvatio. Bilo je toliko jako, da mi činilodao da grize, ali sam ostala mirna jer je naša babica vidjela da doji ispravno. Dok je on dojio, ja sam jela neku hranu koju je moj suprug donio za mene. Moja babica tada pogledala da li sam nesigurna dok beba leži pored mene. Nažalost bila sam nesigurna. To je bilo nešto što sam zaista željela izbjeći. No, sada kada se to dogodilo, nisam bila posebno zabrinuta. To me nije puno povrijedilo i činilo mi se prilično mala stvar u poređenju s nekim stvarima. Nisam se rastresla kad je glava izašla, kao što sam se osjećala u sebi sve vrijeme, ali to se moralo dogoditi kad su ramena izlazila, jer se vjerojatno malo okrenuo. Zapravo, sjećam se da sam osjetila da se mrda pokušavajući naći svoj put van. (Čak i kad je samo jedan dio glave bio vani, osjetila sam ga kako se pomjera s jedne na drugu stranu – vrlo čudno iskustvo! ) Vidjela je da je rez bio pitak (ne tako dubok kao što bi bilo kod epiziotomije), ali išao je sve do mog anusa, tako da su konci bili neophodni. Očigledno, imam neuobičajeno kratku međicu. Na početku, ona je smatrala da bi bilo najbolje da to učini opstetričar, tako da smo bilo spremni ići u bolnicu. No, nakon što smo shvatili da ginekolog nije bio tamo, ona ga je nazvala kući, postavila neka pitanja i odlučila da to učini sama. Lokalni anestetik stvarno nije bio bolan nakon prethodnih napora, a time ni ubodi. Srećom, imala sam babicu koja je bila dobra u šivanju, i koja je imala sa sobom lokalnu anesteziju! Onda sam ustala i istuširala se. Dok sam bila pod tušem, babica je rekla da je upravo izvagala bebu i da ima 4.3kg, što je prilično puno!
Bilo je tako čudno odjednom imati dijete. Trebalo mi je malo vremena u mojoj glavi. Svu svoju mentalnu snagu sam usmjerila ka tome kako proći porod, nisam bila spremna za tu sljedeću fazu. Također mi je bilo potrebno neko vrijeme (koji dan valjda) da se povežem i stvarno zaljubim u naše dijete. Nisam baš osjećala iznenadnu navalu emocija radi njega; rasle su polako ali sigurno tokom tih dana. Međutim, bila sam nevjerojatno sretna i uzbuđena zbog rođenja. Osjećala sam takvo olakšanje jer je sve prošlo dobro na kraju i da je dijete sigurno i zdravo. Veliko olakšanje mi je bilo to što nisam završila u bolnici. Izbjegavala sam inducirani porod zbog curenja plodne vode i izbjegavala sam ići zbog iscrpljenosti od dugog poroda. Također sam bila nevjerojatno iznenađena što sam baratala s bolovima tako dobro. Gotovo da nisam ispustila zvuk sve vrijeme (osim kod tiskanja, jer mi je grlo bilo suho, ne zato što je bolno, ali je, nego zbog snažne senzacije). Mislim da je, iako definitivno neugodno, porod podnošljiv i nimalo traumatičan. Osjećala sam se jako ohrabreno jer sam prošla kroz ovo iskustvo gotovo potpuno sama – mnoge sate moj muž je spavao i naša babica nije bila tu većinu vremena. A, bilo je super što mogu biti kući sve vrijeme. To mi je stvarno pomoglo da ostanem opuštena.
Nakon poroda, babica me posjećivala svaki dan sljedeće sedmice, a svakih nekoliko dana dok nismo otišli iz Adelaide, par sedmica kasnije. Ona se uvjerila da će sve biti u redu s dojenjem i da je bebina težina u redu. Imala sam nekih problema prvih nekoliko dana da ga naučim da doji. Činilo se kao da nije htio otvoriti usta, a moje bradavice su bile prilično ravne. Ali smo ustrajali i nismo uveli bočice niti smjese. Kada je moje mlijeko nadošlo u samo nekoliko dana nakon poroda, on se dobro hranio. Međutim, imala sam vrlo bolne, ispucale bradavice, ali je moja babica vjerovala da je to normalno za mene i da samo treba da očvrsnu. Za otprilike mjesec dana nakon poroda, bila sam vrlo dobro, bez bolova, a moje bradavice, naravno, postale su jasnije.
In English
This is a story from an Australian woman living in Sarajevo at the time of her pregnancy. However, she decided to return to Australia to have a home birth with an independent midwife. She was able to have a very positive and completely natural experience thanks to the support of her husband, her midwife, the use of a hypnotherapy and water therapy.
My husband and I come from Australia, but we were living in Sarajevo doing volunteer work when we decided to have our first child. My pregnancy was going very smoothly. I did my best to exercise regularly and eat well and all my visits to the Dr showed that me and the baby were healthy.
Our initial plan was to have the baby in Bosnia, however, I was also very concerned about having a natural birth and I wasn’t sure if the hospitals were very supportive of that. In fact, my preference was to have either a homebirth or go to a birth centre and neither seemed available to me at the time in Bosnia. Also, I was quite afraid of childbirth and I thought it would be quite stressful to be in an unfamiliar system, without speaking the language and with no one there who could help. So, in the end we decided to go to Australia for the birth.
We hired a private midwife to help me have a home birth. She was very experienced and really understood how the natural process works. She didn’t interfere in that process at all unless complications developed. She followed the rest of my pregnancy by feeling my belly to check baby’s position and engagement, listening with a doppler to the baby’s heartbeat and taking my blood pressure, as well as checking I was feeling good. In Australia, it’s not common to do more than two ultrasounds unless there’s a problem.
I prepared myself for the birth by learning breathing exercises, doing fetal positioning exercises and by practicing hypnobirthing. I believe these things really helped me stay comfortable and relaxed during the pregnancy and birth. I also did a lot of research about birth so that I knew what to expect and what choices I had.
The day before my due date, I started having a lot of braxton hicks contractions, but by the end of the day, they stopped. I also noticed a small amount of yellow fluid was leaking. I wasn’t sure if it was vaginal fluid or amniotic fluid. My midwife wasn’t sure either, but she said if it was amniotic fluid, the standard hospital practice was to have labour induced if it didn’t start naturally within 24 hours. This was because once the waters break, there is a small risk of infection. She, however, believed that because I most likely had a hind leak, the risks were very small and she said that if I was happy with that, I could wait longer for labour to start. It would just be a good idea to practice good hygiene and take my temperature regularly to spot a rise which would indicate infection.
So, with some trepidation, I waited for labour to start. I tried a few things to start it naturally, like nipple stimulation. I don’t know if that helped, but five days later, I started having irregular contractions. That was a Friday night. They were very light, so I could sleep through them. I called my midwife and she told me to just rest. On Saturday, they were very light and irregular still, but by Saturday night, they began to intensify. In fact, they were quite strong but since they were irregular, my midwife didn’t come over. She just encouraged me to rest as much as possible. This continued in much the same way through the night until Sunday night. I was just resting in a forward leaning position on my knees with my head on the couch almost the whole time. Occasionally I would walk to the bathroom or bounce on my birthing ball. We kept the room dark and warm and had soft music playing, which helped. I also used a hot pack on my lower back and had a few showers. We had a birthing pool blown up and ready, but my midwife said it would be best to wait until the end of labour to use it so that I would get the most relief from it.
On Sunday night the midwife came over and checked the baby’s heart rate. That was all. She didn’t do a vaginal exam. She just observed me. By my behaviour, she could tell I was still in early labour. I was a bit disappointed. It had been hard getting through the sensations, with already two almost sleepless nights. Well, I had been managing pretty well so far, but I was worried about what active labour would look like. She reassured me that natural painkillers were gradually accumulating in my system and that the build up of birthing hormones would help me get into an altered state of consciousness in which the pain would be manageable. And, I think, she was right.
Early the next morning, I started to feel like the contractions were a bit more intense and there was a lot more pressure on my cervix. I went to have a bath. When I was in the bath, I started to feel the need to bear down. It was almost as if my body was doing it by itself at the end of each contraction. I called the midwife. I was worried that it was too early to push since I thought I was still in early labour. She said if that’s how I felt, then it was the right time and that she would come right away. When she arrived, she did a vaginal examination (the first one I’d had) and felt that the baby’s head was already in the birth canal.
She helped me get out of the bath and walk to the birthing pool. It felt so strange to walk with the head so low down.
Once in the pool, I was very happy and relaxed. We saw that it was 6am on Sunday morning. My contractions became very widely spaced apart. I didn’t feel the urge to push so much, except at the end of contractions, so I only pushed when I felt like it. And, pushing seemed to make the contractions so much easier to bear. My husband was in the pool with me most of the time and he helped me get into different positions. I squatted at first, but when this got tiring, I lay on my side and then later, was on my hands and knees. My midwife was just sitting outside the pool, watching and reassuring me that everything was fine. She checked my baby’s heart rate once I think and said it was fine.
After about an hour, my baby’s head emerged, but then it retracted again at the end of the contraction. It kept doing this for a while and I was getting impatient, but our midwife said that this was normal and the body’s way of naturally stretching the skin. It felt a bit uncomfortable, but okay. I hadn’t torn at this point, as I had my hand touching the area to feel his head coming out. It felt really strange and sweet to feel how soft his head was and to feel his soft hair waving in the water. After maybe half an hour like this, his head came out fully and didn’t retract. Then, I pushed one more time and the body emerged. At this point, I was leaning on my hands and knees. The midwife caught him from behind, under the water and pushed him forward between my legs so that I could lift him up.
I pulled him up into my arms and held him for a while. He was quiet and not breathing at first, but the midwife assured me he was okay, since he was still being fed by the placenta. I blew on his face and he eventually let out a bit of a cry, which was a relief. From then on, he was rather calm and content. I then tried to lead him to the breast, but he didn’t want to take it. While still holding him and sitting in the pool, I called my parents and had a chat. After a while, I became a bit uncomfortable, as the water wasn’t warm enough and also I had a bit of discomfort down below. I was also worried the baby was getting cold. Once the cord stopped pulsing, the midwife clamped it and my husband cut it. I then handed the baby to my husband so that he could hold him while I pushed out the placenta. The idea was to wait for contractions to come naturally from the nipple stimulation of the breastfeeding, but since that wasn’t working, I tried just pushed really hard and it came out. Big globules of blood also came out, which made it seem like the placenta was broken, but fortunately it wasn’t. The pool went all red, like there’d been a shark attack (I’ve heard this is normal)! After that, I was pretty eager to get out. My midwife helped me climb out. It felt very strange because my belly was like jelly, it was as if I didn’t have any abdominal muscles at all!
She led me to the bed and I lay down and tried to breastfeed again. It wasn’t working, so the midwife intervened to help things along. He finally latched on. It was so strong, it felt like he was biting, but I remained calm as our midwife saw that he was latching on correctly. While he fed, I ate some food my husband brought to me. My midwife then had a look to see if I had torn as I lay with my baby next to me. Unfortunately I had torn. This had been something I really wanted to avoid. But, now that it had happened, I wasn’t particularly concerned. It hadn’t hurt me a lot and it seemed rather minor in the scheme of things. I hadn’t torn when the head was coming out, as I had felt myself that whole time, but it must have happened when the shoulders were coming out, as he had probably twisted himself a bit. In fact, I remember feeling him trying to wiggle his way out. (Even when only part of his head was out, I felt him turn from side to side – a very weird experience!) She saw that it was a shallow cut (not as deep as an episiotomy would be), but it went all the way to my anus, so it required stitches. Apparently, I have an unusually short perineum. At first, she thought it would be best to have the obstetrician to do it, so we prepared ourselves to go to the hospital. But, after realizing this obstetrician wasn’t there, she called him at home to ask some questions and decided to do it herself. The local anaesthetic didn’t really hurt after the previous exertions, and then the stitches not at all. Thankfully, I had a midwife who was good at suturing, and who carried local anesthetic! I then got up and had a shower. When I was in the shower, the midwife said they had just weighed the baby and he weighed 4.3kg, which is quite big!
It felt so strange to suddenly have a baby. It took me a little while to get my head around the idea. I had used all my mental power to get through the labour and birth, I wasn’t quite ready for this next stage. It also took a little while (that day I guess) to bond and really fall in love with our baby. I didn’t exactly feel a sudden rush of emotion for him; it grew slowly but surely over the day. However, I was incredibly happy and excited about the birth. I felt so relieved that it had gone so well in the end and that the baby was safe and healthy. I was so relieved that I hadn’t ended up in hospital. I had avoided being induced because of the leaking amniotic fluid and I had avoided going because of exhaustion from a long labour. I was also incredibly surprised that I had handled the pain so well. I had hardly even made a sound the whole time (except for the pushing, which had left me with a sore throat, not because it was painful, but due to the strong nature of the sensation). I reflected that, although definitely uncomfortable, I found the labour manageable and not at all traumatic. I felt much empowered for having gone through this experience almost entirely on my own – for many hours my husband was asleep and our midwife wasn’t there for most of the time. And, it was great not to have to leave the house the whole time. It really helped me stay relaxed.
After the birth, the midwife visited every day for the next week and every few days until we left Adelaide a couple of weeks later. She made sure I was going okay with breastfeeding and that the baby’s weight was okay. I did have some trouble for the first few days getting him to latch on. It seemed like he didn’t want to open his mouth and my nipples were quite flat. But we persevered and didn’t introduce bottles or formula. When my milk came in a few days after birth, he was feeding well. However, I had very sore, cracked nipples, but my midwife believed this was normal for me and that they just needed to toughen. By about a month after birth, I was going very well, without pain and my nipples had naturally become more pointy.
